Any other students on here? I have another month to go. I personally think there is no harder time to gobs of lose weight (other than motherhood I suppose) than being in college. Stress is 24/7 and goes late into the night, your food budget is tight, you could easily drink a days worth of calories at a bar with your friends, your room mate probably weighs 120 lbs and eats nothing but boxes of oreos and pop tarts that are all over the apartment. Plus if you eat in a dining hall, it's all over, ice cream and cake and cookies in front of you... at no extra cost... EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. For breakfast? Pancakes, bacon, cereal, waffles......

But it is nice to have a free gym membership......... woohoo!!

I gained quite a bit of weight after years of dining halls and little debbie snacks to get me through chemistry. I think if I didn't have a wedding breathing down my neck, I'd probably have failed miserably at trying to lose weight these last 6 months.

I hear you! Everything you said sounds just like my school. I think I gained about 20-25 lbs during my first 2 1/2 years of college. I'm in the last semester of my 3rd year and have decided to change. I have lost 39lbs and have many more to. It has been much easier to eat healthy now since I live off campus.

I agree on the free gym membership! It's awesome! I have definitely been taking advantage of it. I'm just a little disappointed in myself for not using it during my freshman and sophomore years. What was I thinking?

I'm with you guys there! The temptations at this place are absolutely insane, and the 120 lb roommate who eats pure junk is right on. It's hard because they can't understand my predicament and when I finally lose enough weight for it to be noticeable they're just like, "Oh, have you just been going to the gym a little bit?" ... ... ... Really?

I'm so glad you understand. I lived in the residence halls and ate at the dining center until this current school year. I live by myself now off campus. Once I was able to grocery shop for myself, instead of having to try to navigate around the food at the dining hall, the weight has been coming off gradually. When I ate in the dining hall, I had the feeling of "get my money's worth". Now I'm fine just eating toast and yogurt for breakfast. No pressure to make the most of my meal plan.

I lived literally like, a 2-5 minute walk from the gym my freshmen year. I went there once before classes started to "establish my routine". HAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had good intentions then, but the stress of school and the freedom to do with my time as I wish got to me. I did not have the fire in my belly or motivation to really lose weight. I was/still am dating a great boyfriend who loved my body. My only goal was to get through college.

Tell me about it. I'm on unlimited meal plan and the temptations are extreme. Often the only edible options are horrifyingly unhealthy...

On the other hand, access to fresh, healthful food is also everywhere (salad bar, of course). And the free, extremely convenient gym access, flexible schedule, and high metabolism we enjoy at our age also can't be taken for granted. I'm working on losing weight in my last term of college partly so I have enough self-control to deal with company dinners next year when I'll be traveling four days a week.

I figure, if I can make good choices now, I can make them later. Hopefully.

Yeah a few of my co-workers are thin as sticks and when we study together for classes they eat a ton of jelly beans, candy, etc. and I just don't get why LIFE ISN'T FAIR!!! They also don't appreciate how hard you must be working to get in shape... you look really great!!

Lackadaisy - yep!! Temptation temptation. I remember, well, I could have technically eaten unlimited vegetables instead of unlimited french fries at my dining hall... fruit as well... but it just seems a lot harder to make those decisions, I mean, we're only human. I do share in your opinion that we must make the most of our youth, which means, losing weight will never be easier than now (biologically speaking). Let's do it!!!

Yep I am a 27 year old full time student mommy and wife and work out side the home from time to time (prn) at a local hospital. and I AM STRESSED TO THE MAX! When you add fat and trying to lose weight in on top of it its like a ticking time bomb lol. Nice to meet some other students!

Ugh, I'm so glad to see this thread. I'm a grad student, working on getting my MA in English, with ONE MONTH to go. Grad school has driven me to over-eating, to fast food binges, to Whataburger at two in the morning on a regular basis, and to obscene amounts of diet soda to stay awake to get everything done. I don't like cooking, I generally don't like frozen meals, and good goodness, sometimes when I've been reading all day, when I've just gotten out of the three-hour Monday night class from ****, or one of my students treats me with an obscene amount of disrespect (another rant for another topic), I just freaking want french fries.

I know it's bad of me to blame my weight problems on my circumstances--I control myself, yadda yadda yadda, but I've always had trouble controlling what I eat. When you're in a high-stress situation 24/7 that allows for almost no down time, it's hard to cope. I'm also dealing with depression, and am off my meds, because while they made me happier and more confident in general, they also made me more prone to severe breakdowns about once every three days that would last for hours. I can't wait to be out of my current situation and just be back to "normal life" levels of stress... Oh, how I yearn for my undergrad days. :P

So yes... Student support! We can do it!

I've always commuted to campus, so I've never had to deal with dining halls. The few times I've been in one with friends, I must say that's a very good thing! I don't know that I'd do well with all of those temptations.

Jeni, are you at Ohio State? I'm about halfway through my Master's program at OSU!

Hotaru, I hear you on yearning for undergrad days. Every minute of every day that isn't spent sleeping, eating, working out, or commuting, is dedicated to school (or wasting time surfing when I should be writing a paper that's due in 10 hours, like now).

JollyGreen: Thanks so much! Yeah, I'm just starting to accept that life isn't fair. Oh well.

AriRuns: Yes I am at OSU, good guess! Go buckeyes!

I don't think it's harder per se, but college students are not as equipped to deal with living on their own and everything that comes along with being independent. I work full-time and go to law school now, but I feel a lot more equipped to deal with everything that life brings compared to when I was in college. The dining halls are killer. I would literally eat the soft-serve ice cream every night.

I lol'd at the 120 pound roommate. My roommate was actually in the Miss America Pagent. Meanwhile, I gained the "Freshman 50." I didn't realize it was only supposed to be 15 (was never great at math).

AriRuns, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one posting on 3FC when I should be writing a paper! I'm sitting my comprehensive exams this weekend, and have two papers due tomorrow at noon that will determine if I can graduate or not (in addition to, of course, my other two classes this semester). And yet... Here I am when they're not done yet! Gah!

I should start making time to work out, but at the moment, I'd rather spend that one spare hour watching mindless television. I'm trying to transition to doing push-ups/sit-ups/squats while watching mindless TV, so that I don't have to give up my Community or Parks and Recreation. I applaud you for having the determination and dedication to do it!

I am not going to grad school for a few years, although in the fall I'm starting an unpaid 40 hr/week internship to become a medical lab scientist, no vacation except christmas for 12 months. Plus going to be a newlywed... though no kids... full time student + mommy are crazy loco !!! Lol. I have, at all cost, avoided potential reproduction until long after I'm done with school. I couldn't handle it, especially carrying these extra 100 lbs. I don't know how I'm going to handle 40 unpaid and 20 paid hours at the hospital and at that point I'll have another 50 lbs to lose... without children. Phew.

Everyone's undergrad is a little different, I work a couple jobs over 20 hrs a week and take really advanced science courses that are sort of like taking a class in Japanese sometimes... it's not quite the extreme joys of grad students which includes coming into your lab at 3 in the morning, teaching undergrad courses or trying to finish your thesis... but it is stressful nonetheless and stress is BAD for weight loss. I hope you make it through your last month of your masters!!!!

Hahahaha... that's funny. Yeah I definitely gained much more than my share of that freshmen 15... and it felt free to continue into sophomore year too.

Those soft serve machines are the DEVIL. Mine had a full sundae bar next to it. Hot fudge, caramel... cookie crumbles...

Just the other night I visted a dining hall again for kicks for a date. They have these table tents that talk about healthy eating and stuff. But yet my dining halls DO NOT SERVE ANYTHING HEALTHY. I sat there on net nutrition before I went trying to plan a meal there under 500 calories and I pretty much could eat like, 3 little things, and the stats were not impressive. It baffles me. The healthiest thing I could find there to eat was some popcorn shrimp.